Big deal — IndiaWorld owner nets Rs 499-cr from Satyam

The takeover deal not only created ripples in India, its effects were felt across the Atlantic in Nasdaq, where Satyam’s American Depository Receipts (ADRs) shot up up by $34 at $151 in late trading compared to its debut in US at $18 in mid-October. At the current price, the market capitalisation of Satyam has shot up to an astonishing $2.92 billion after the IndiaWorld deal was announced.

But is IndiaWorld worth that much? “The market has given its verdict as evident in Satyam’s market capitalisation, which shot up $640 million in a single trading day. This shows foreign investors have reposed faith in India, in Satyam and its deal with IndiaWorld,” the Mumbai-born Jain told Express Newsline today.

After completing his graduation from IIT Mumbai, Jain went to the United States to do his MSC in electric engineering and returned in 1995 to set up IndiaWorld in Mumbai. “We Indians are doing so well in the US. I was sure that in India we could do equally well. With the Internet, we can do it right here in our land,” says an euphoric Jain. “Besides, I love Mumbai,” he adds.

So how is he going to spend the big Rs 499-crore cheque? “IndiaWorld was set up with many shareholders consisting of friends and relatives, and the money will go to all of them as per the share-holding pattern. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll be working with Satyam as an employee to grow this business further,” Jain says, showing a touch of Sabeer Bhatia who sold off his Hotmail.com to Microsoft for a whopping $400 million and later joined the world’s biggest software firm as a business development manager. “We sold off this business as we knew we needed a partner to grow further. We were aware of our limitations and hence decided to bring in a partner,” Jain adds.

Satyam Infoway’s deal for IndiaWorld’s popular net sites among the NRIs, samachar.com, khoj.com, khel.com, and bawarchi.com has proved that internet frenzy has finally arrived in India. Satyam is India’s biggest private internet service provider with 1,00,000 subscribers and offers an on-line portal, content, access services and corporate network and technology services. “I am sure IndiaWorld’s example will inspire others to follow suit and compete in the international arena,” he said.

Highly bullish on Internet’s future in India, Jain says in the years to come more such deals would be announced as the world will take notice of India’s highly qualified software programmes and the industry will boom to dizzying heights.